


Let the Children Lose It

by LeioRossi



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Kid Hannibal, Kid Will Graham, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-11 17:32:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11719137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeioRossi/pseuds/LeioRossi
Summary: Hannibal and Will grow up together, and Hannibal would do anything to keep his best friend with him.





	1. Hurt and Comfort

Hannibal froze as he heard a wail pierce through the sound of cars passing on the street behind the backyard. It was a voice so distinct, Hannibal could place it even in the busiest airport. It was Will Graham, the boy who lived next door-- the only one who understood him despite Hannibal not talking much when they first met.

 

At the sound of the repeated stifled sob, the maroon eyed boy sprinted towards the fence that separated Will and him. They had managed to get one of the parts of the fence loose so that they could sneak across at any time. Hannibal had thought it unnecessary since he could easily climb the fence but the look of Will’s excited face had quieted any opposition inside him.

 

“William?” Hannibal said softly as he came across to the Graham backyard. There, in the center of shabbily cut grass, was the young boy sitting on the ground with tears rolling down his dirty cheeks. His dog was worriedly licking at the tears, and William, the dog lover that he was, was attempting to comfort both Winston and himself.

 

Hannibal wasted no time in striding to his side and kneeling besides the young boy. William immediately met his eyes and the words were tumbling out of his mouth before Hannibal ever had to say something.

 

“I was playing cops, Hannibal, and I didn’t even fall off the tree. The branch broke and I slipped and hit my knee.” Will cried wiping the fresh tears that rose from his confession.

 

The older boy was quick to pull the boy into a stilted embrace, more of a tight hold than a hug, but Will didn’t seem to mind, if his tucking his chin into the curve of Hannibal’s neck was any indicator.

 

“Oh, William, I thought you were extremely hurt.” There was an edge of possessiveness to his voice. “I was so worried.” He drew back and traced a hand across Will’s forehead, tucking strands of curls that had fallen from the crown of his  head behind his ears. 

 

“Sorry, Hannibal.” Will said, looking down embarrassed, and the older tusked, lifting Will’s face so that they were looking at each other. 

 

“Don’t apologize, William. It wasn’t your fault. Even the best of us fall down sometimes.” He brought Will up to his feet, noting the wince Will tried to hide when they squeezed their hands together. “Come over to my house and I can treat it.” William nodded, following behind Hannibal across their backyards. The older boy felt a sense of elation rise in him, because this was exactly why he was going to be a doctor when he grew up. Will was always doing things that got him hurt, and if he had a dream of being a police officer then there was an even bigger chance that he was going to get hurt. It was Hannibal’s responsibility to take care of his future husband.

 

The two of them entered Hannibal’s home, carefully tiptoeing their way up to Hannibal’s room. They had been scolded before for being too loud, but Hannibal would lose all decorum if it meant being with Will. The reason for the needed silence was for his uncle who did a lot of business over the phone. 

 

Once Hannibal had William inside his room, he closed the door and took out the first aid kit he had on the second shelf of his bookcase. Will took his regular position, perched on the edge of Hannibal’s bed. When he kneeled down to have better access to Will’s knee, the younger boy leaned forward, both of his hands holding the bed so he wouldn’t fall, to observe Hannibal.

 

“Thank you, Hannibal” William said softly, hesitantly petting his head like if he were a dog. If this were anyone else, Hannibal would have bitten their hand off long ago for doing such a degrading act but this was Will. He would let him get away with anything in the first place and Hannibal knew that Will loved dogs so it was fine. He leaned into the hand, smiling as he carefully placed bandaids on the cleaned and skinned knee. 

 

“You’re welcome, dear Will.” He rose to his feet and sat down next to Will, gently taking one of his hands and cleaning it with one of the wipes that was in the first aid kit. William’s fingers automatically tensed but he bore through it, clenching his teeth. Once he finished putting a band aid on it, Hannibal brought it up to his lips and kissed it.

 

“Hannibal,” Will giggled, drawing his hand back. “You’re only supposed to kiss people that you love.” There was a blush on Will’s cheeks and Hannibal smiled.

 

“I love you.” Hannibal replied simply, leaning forward to kiss Will’s cheek, but the other boy pushed him away with a hand on his chest, and Hannibal frowned in confusion.

 

“M-my dad said it’s disgusting when boys kiss so you can only kiss girls.”

 

“But I don’t love girls. I love you so I only want to kiss you. Is that disgusting?” Hannibal raised an eyebrow and Will’s eyes widened as he vehemently shook his head.

 

“No! You’re not disgusting at all, Hannibal.” Will gripped his hand.

 

“Then why can’t I kiss you, William?”

 

The boy’s mouth opened and closed, but he ended up biting his lip with a small frown on his face.

 

“Because my dad--”

 

Hannibal deflated and took back his hand with a dejected look on his face. The sadness he was feeling must have reached Will  and before Hannibal could move away, the younger boy grabbed his arm and yanked him down, pressing his lips hard against Hannibal’s cheek. Hannibal was over the moon delighted.

 

“I’m sorry. Don’t be sad.” Will babbled, pressing another kiss on his face, this time landing awkwardly on his eyebrow. “You’re not weird. I love you too.” There was a short pause. “You don’t think I’m weird?”

 

“I think you’re perfect.” Hannibal murmured as he drew Will into a hug, pressing a kiss on the side of his head. He led them so that they were lying horizontally on the bed, arms wrapped around each other, their limbs carefully arranged so they didn’t aggravate Will’s wounds. This was a familiar position for the two of them, and the tension Will had been holding bled out from his frame and he molded into Hannibal’s body.

 

“What a silly boy you are, William.” Hannibal softly said, dragging his fingers through the unruly curls. The other made a soft noise in response, nuzzling closer so that his nose was touching Hannibal’s chin.

 


	2. How We Met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Will and Hannibal met

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title of work is from Starman by David Bowie
> 
> Also, thanks to those that commented. Your ideas are in the works, and will be shown in the following chapters! New chapters will be posted every Wednesday and/or Sunday

School wasn't always easy for people like Will. There was too many people that had too many different emotions that conflicted with each other. It was easy to get overwhelmed by the myriad of feelings that the other people felt. The only thing that kept up afloat was Hannibal's steady presence.

 

Before Hannibal had moved to America, Will had always felt both like he was never alone and always lonely, the voices of other people echoing in the back of his mind while none of them were directed to him in real life. Every once in awhile, there would be other kids who decided to try and befriend the rather quiet boy who flinched at the slightest touch. The first person had been a girl that was a grade above them named Alana. She had the prettiest face that Will had ever seen, and he wished that he knew how to be like other boys who could just tell girls their feelings. However, after a few weeks of running around the playground, Alana came up to him one day and told Will that they couldn't be friends anymore. It broke his heart.

 

His second "friend" had been Jack, who was two grades above him. But even at the beginning of their friendship, Will could tell that Jack was using him for help on his math homework. Despite being a quiet kid, everyone knew that he was brilliant. The only reason he hadn't skipped a grade was because his dad wouldn't let them do the official test so that he could jump a grade. His dad said that he didn't want it "going to Will's head". Jack knew that Will could help, so he would play with Will sometimes then ask him to do his homework. At first, Will felt hurt that Jack was only friends with him because he wanted his homework done for him, but then he got used to it. It wasn't that bad, because at least SOMEONE was being his friend, even if they weren't a real one.

 

Then, one day out of nowhere, one of the office ladies who was always nice to him came to his homeroom and announced that Hannibal Lecter was going to be part of their class. All the other kids had mixed reaction about the strange, unsmiling boy that looked kind of mean. His maroon red eyes made everyone curious, but when one of the girls tried to ask about it, the boy ignored her. Will didn't need to ask why Hannibal was so quiet.

 

When Will saw the pain that was in his eyes, Will decided  to give him a drawing from their art class. It wasn't much. They had been asked to draw one of the many objects in front of them, and Will couldn't decide between a teacup and a toy butterfly, so he drew both. Even though he wasn't a great artist, Will felt like it was okay enough. 

 

The maroon eyed boy had looked up at him with suspicion when Will gave him the drawings.

 

"I'm sorry that you're really sad and mad. I know that drawings won't help much, but I hope they help at least a little." Will had stammered before going back to his desk, head buried in a book with his glasses perched on his nose.

Even when Will waved at him from his house, Hannibal still didn't talk to him for a week, but then, while Will was sitting with his back against the wall during recess, an accented voice came out of nowhere and asked him.

"How?" Hannibal looked down at him, holding one of the drawings, although it had been delicately folded time and time again. It made Will smile.

 

"How what?" Will had asked, tilting his head to look up at him.

 

"How did you know I was hurt inside?" Hannibal said haltingly. "My uncle doesn't know. How do you?"

 

"I just do.” Will replied, biting his lip as he broke eye contact with Hannibal. “My dad says it’s because I’m a freak. Mrs. Smith says I have something called empathy. It means I can feel what other people feel sometimes.”

 

The other boy looked at him, giving him a considering stare. Whatever it was that he was thinking led him to sitting down. Will could remember that even then it was the start of something. 

 

“My name is William Graham, but you can call me Will.”

 

“William.” Hannibal said, testing it out on his lips. “I am Hannibal.” The blue eyed boy blushed at the sound of his whole name. At first he was going to protest and say that only his dad calls him that, but then he saw how content Hannibal was and pushed it aside.

 

“Where are you from?”

 

“Lithuania.” was the curt response.

 

“Is...is that far?”

 

“Yes.” Hannibal nodded. “I came on an airplane.”

 

“That’s so cool. I’ve never gotten on an airplane. My family can’t afford it.” Will looked down shyly. “Did you like it?”

 

“No. It was too loud.” Hannibal said, and even with the distaste in his words, Will could tell that he was happy right now. It was like a curl of contentment that made the younger boy feel like home and warm blankets. A silence was held between them and Hannibal’s eyes flickered down to the book Will was holding. “What are you reading?”

 

“Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.” Will said hesitating. “Do you want to read it with me?” He leaned the book towards Hannibal and the other boy nodded, sitting down next to him. 

 

“You read it...please.” Hannibal said, leaning so he could see the book. The brush of their shoulders made Will jump, but he settled and licked his lips before he began reading.

 

“This poem is called the Voice:

There is a voice inside you

That whispers all day long 

“I feel this is right for me,

I know that  _ this  _ is wrong.”

No teacher, preacher, parent, friend

Or wise man can decide 

What’s right for you-- just listen to

The voice that speaks inside.”

 

And in that moment, the bond between the two boys blossomed, cementing their futures, with only the curious side glance from maroon colored eyes to show for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Once again, please comment down below what you would like to see and what you liked! (Or didn't)


	3. Maiming Mason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason pulls a yikes

After that fateful meeting Hannibal had come up to him, Will and he had been inseparable. You could never find one without the other and it was that way for three years, but then as they started getting older, the other kids started finding it weird, but they didn't say anything because they had been used to it for all the time since they were smaller. However, there were some new kids in the class who found it mock worthy. It was a pair of twins, and the girl, Margot, wasn't so bad. It was the brother, Mason, who made Will angry and upset all the time... not that Hannibal knew. Will would never tell Hannibal that Mason was being mean to him because he knew that the older boy would do something that would get him in trouble.

 

“Oh look who it is!” Mason mocked.”It’s ittle Will. Where’s your stupid boyfriend?” He pushed at Will’s shoulders and the blue eyed boy let out a pained noise as the bruises that had been fading from their last encounter were hit again. 

 

“Please, stop.” Will said haltingly, his eyes flickering up to Mason from beneath his eyelashes. This was happening too often for Will to hide it from Hannibal any longer. His dad knew, but just told him to suck it up and get over it. If he wasn’t going to stand up for himself then he would just have to take it. 

 

Mason laughed, elbowing his sister who had the same look on her face as her brother. However Will could tell that she felt guilty and didn’t want to do this. Their eyes met for a second, and Will mouthed the word please to her.

 

“Do you hear that, Margot? Will is saying ‘pwease pwease’.” Mason mocked, pushing Will into the wall harder. “You’re not so tough when Hannibal isn’t around, huh?” A cold look came over his face and he drew his hand back and brought it down quick across Will’s face. The younger boy let out a cry, putting a hand to his reddening cheek crying.

 

Mason smiled at the reaction and leaned towards Will, tilting his head as his eyes followed a tear down Will’s face. 

 

:”You’re too pretty too be a boy.” Mason said softly. “Maybe that’s why Hannibal likes you. He likes to pretend you’re a girl so he can practice for the future.” Will wanted to throw up as he felt Mason’s attraction to him and he was about to bolt for it, when a hand suddenly pulled the boy away from him in a stronghold.

 

Will’s legs gave out and he crumbled to the floor, looking up at Hannibal’s flat, angry eyes. He had never seen Hannibal show so much emotion and Mason was saying something, protesting but Will was too shaken to pay attention, The hand that had been covering his slapped cheek went to the floor, as he looked for stability in the midst of Hannibal’s anger, Mason’s indignation, and his own fear and embarrassment. 

 

That was the wrong to make though because Hannibal’s eyes locked onto Will’s cheek and a snarl escaped his lips. His head snapped around to Mason who momentarily froze, and Hannibal punched him. The other boy crashed to the floor, and he wasn’t even given a second before Hannibal had a leg on each side and was raining down punch after punch on Mason’s face. Red began filling Will’s vision.

 

Somehow, Will managed to get to his feet and stumble over to Hannibal, laying a hand on his back, shaking.

 

“Hannibal, stop,” He whispered, but Mason’s face got bloodier and bloodier, and even Will was getting really scared. “Hannibal, please, you’re scaring m-me.” And that stopped the pummeling, because the next second, Hannibal was standing and gathering Will in his arms, pulling him into a tight hug.

 

“It’s okay, Will. I’m here now.” Hannibal said into his hair, hands stroking Will’s curls, and Will couldn’t help but melt into the familiar, safe embrace. Even as he could feel blood sticking to his hair, Will began to cry into Hannibal’s shirt. 

 

“No one will ever hurt you again.” Hannibal promised, drawing back and gently cupping Will’s face. Something in him fluttered at the sight of Will’s bright blue eyes staring up at him, tear rimmed and red. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t known that HIS Will was getting hurt. That would never happen again. 

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Hannibal.” Will began to cry harder and Hannibal hugged him, leaning his head on Will’s.

 

“It’s okay, William.” Hannibal said, pressing a soft kiss on his head. “I will protect you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhh, I don't know. I hope you enjoyed?


	4. Chapter 4

          Will didn’t really understand why Hannibal would want to be his friend. Maybe at first they had been similar, both rather quiet and introverted to really meld with the rest of the class. But now, now that Hannibal had opened up more, the whole class could see just how awesome he was.

 

          Maybe it was just Will being insecure, but when he saw his best friend smiling with the other girls in his class, something in Will’s chest hurt. He could see on the other girls’ faces how they wanted to be his girlfriend and be all lovey dovey with Hannibal. They all had crushes on the Lithuanian, and it made Will’s insides squirm because they could easily take Hannibal away from him. All it would take would be for someone to capture Hannibal’s interest, and then he would want to spend all his time with her.   
Whoever she was.

 

          And Will didn’t want that. He wanted Hannibal all too himself. He didn’t want him to go away or find new friends to replace him with. Or worse, pretend to be his friend.

 

          Will paused his coloring at the thought, and he looked up to see Hannibal giving Bedelia, one of the rich girls in their class, a wide smile with a hand on her shoulder. Tears sprung up in Will’s eyes and he sniffed, unable to stop them from trailing down his face. It wasn’t fair. Even if they were the bestest of friends, there would always be some girl that would capture Hannibal’s heart. That would get to go home with him and be all married.

 

          A strange dark feeling rose in Will, and he grit his teeth together, shoving his glasses up his nose.  At that moment, the ashy haired boy turned to look at Will, and Hannibal froze at what he saw.

 

          There was a cold look in Will’s eyes, which clashed with the tears rolling down his flushed cheeks. The despondency in Will’s shaking hands and blotchy cheeks were directly contradicted with the hard set of his shoulders and furrowed brow. It was utterly beautiful and Hannibal couldn’t look away from it. Will looked like the vengeful gods that Hannibal had seen in the paintings in Florence. There was a sense of otherworldly to William that made Hannibal want to fall to his knees in awe. A blush filled his cheeks and he found himself walking towards Will.  However, someone else made it before him.

 

          “Hey, Graham, I need your help. You’re one of my best friends, and best friends always help each other out, right?” Jack leaned against Will’s desk and Will looked up at the older boy. He knew that he was being used, but the ugly feeling that had filled him, the loneliness, compelled him to not isolate one of his only friends.

 

          “Yeah, they do.” Will wiped his cheeks, pushing down the angry feelings inside of him. “What do you need help with?” Jack ignored the tears and obvious pain that Will was in, and placed a paper in front of Will.

 

          “It’s something about multiplication, and I could totally do it but you’re so much better at it. I’m sure you’ll get it. I only choose smart best friends.” Jack gave him a wink and then turned on his heel, walking away. When Will glanced up, Hannibal was standing in his spot, a rather curious look at what Will had in his hands.

 

          “I didn’t know you were friends with the older students.” Hannibal said with a rather questioning look on his face. “What did he want?”

 

          “I’m going to do his homework.”

 

          An affronted look filled Hannibal’s face.

 

          “That’s not allowed.”

 

          Will shrugged.

 

          “I know, but we’re friends, so it doesn’t really matter.”

 

          Because his eyes were looking over the worksheet, he missed the way Hannibal’s eyes darkened at the thought of Will having someone else in his life. Biting his lip, he looked over to where the older boy had walked out of the room, his jaw tightening. He took a steadying breath and turned back to the boy in front of him, sitting down in the available chair.

 

          “William, it’s against the rules to do the homework for other students. Not to mention that you’re not really helping Jack since he’s not learning it.” He placed a hand over Will’s that had already begun to write on it. The soft touch felt overwhelming to Will and he yanked his hand away, hiding it in the desk.

 

          “It’s okay, Hannibal. I do it all the time.” He avoided eye contact with his friend. Hannibal frowned at the treatment he was receiving from Will. _Rude._ This wasn’t the friend that he had made—this was some cheap imitation of the boy he liked. “Why do you care? You can go be friends with Bedelia or whatever anyway.” The uncomfortable feeling was still in Will, and it made him feel sad and like if his skin was crawling. Even with the amount of space that was between them was not enough, and he stood up. “I have to go ask Ms. Bloom something.”

 

          The young Lecter pursed his lips at his beloved’s rude behavior and looked at the paper that had been left behind. It was unacceptable that Will was being used by someone other than him—that Will would even consider taking the other boy’s side over his. Nothing should stand in between him and Will, especially nothing as small as another boy who didn’t even care for Will. Hannibal took the paper and smoothly went to his locker, slipping the paper into his backpack.

 

          Something in Hannibal raged madly as a thought slipped into his mind. This time Will was distracted with someone who didn’t even care for him, but…. But someday there might be a person who would actually care for his William. Who would want to take him away. Closing his locker, Hannibal turned around, facing the classroom, watching as everyone was returning to their seats after centers time. Will was too important for him to lose.

 

          He made his way to his seat next to Will.

 

          “Will,” He whispered. The other boy kept his eyes on the paper he was drawing on. “William, come over to my house today. We haven’t played in a while...please?” There was a short pause, but Will peeked at Hannibal from the side of his eye.

 

          “Okay.” He whispered back.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where I'm going with this besides that they're growing up together and Hannibal is still as obsessed with Will as in the original. Any suggestions will be taken seriously. :)


End file.
